Xero VS QuickBooks Online

Thinking of a cloud accounting system for your business finances but not sure which one — here’s the ultimate review!

With Making Tax Digital (MTD) approaching and with HMRC insisting that small business, many of whom currently use spreadsheets, to move to cloud accounting systems we thought we’d compare the 2 most popular…

Developed in 2004, QuickBooks Online beat Xero to the accounting scene by two years. With advanced accounting features, beautiful invoicing, 400+ integrations, it’s easy to see why the software is so renowned.

Xero is a robust accounting solution that rivals QuickBooks in terms of capability and popularity. It’s been around since 2006 and offers fully featured mobile apps, amazing customer service, access for unlimited users, and an impressive feature selection.

Summary Table

Accounting

Winner: Tie

Both Xero and QuickBooks Online offer strong accounting. Each uses double-entry accounting and supports cash-basis and accrual accounting. In addition, each software has strong accounting features including bank reconciliation, fixed asset management, a chart of accounts, and plenty of accounting reports.

Features

Winner: Xero

QuickBooks Online and Xero offer very similar features. In some areas, like invoicing, project management, QuickBooks Online far exceeds Xero (especially since Xero has no project management or lending). In other places, like contact management, Xero provides the better feature. So how do we decide who is better?

In the end, it all comes down to accessibility. QuickBooks Online offers many great features — project management, budgeting, inventory, etc. — but there’s a catch. These features are limited to the more expensive plans. Xero doesn’t limit features by plan, making it a more robust and realistic solution for many users, which is why we gave it the win for this section.

Pricing

Winner: Tie

For some businesses, QuickBooks Online is a much more affordable option. Xero’s smallest plan only gives customers 5 invoices and 20 transactions, which renders this plan useless to many small business owners.

For medium to large businesses, Xero is the better choice. Xero offers payroll at no additional cost and supports unlimited users for every plan. QuickBooks Online doesn’t even come close in this regard.

This category is a draw. The real winner will depend entirely on your business size and needs.

Hardware & Software Requirements

Winner: Xero

As cloud-based software, QuickBooks Online works with nearly any device so long as you have internet access and are using one of the following browsers:

Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox

Internet Explorer 10+

Safari 6.1+

Xero is also cloud-based; it’s compatible with nearly any internet-enabled device so long as you are using one of these browsers:

Google Chrome

Internet Explorer 11

Microsoft Edge

Mozilla Firefox

Safari 8+

Both QuickBooks Online and Xero offer mobile apps for Android and iPhone.

The only reason Xero takes the cake in this category is that you can use Xero with Linux, a capability QuickBooks Online currently doesn’t offer.

Users & Permissions

Winner: Xero

Xero offers unlimited users for all five of its pricing plans. The company also provides some of the strongest user permissions in cloud accounting. QuickBooks Online only supports one, three, or five users depending on your pricing plan (you can add up to twenty-five users total, but the cost adds up fast).

In the end, how can you beat unlimited users?

Ease Of Use

Winner: Tie

QuickBooks Online used to be the clear winner here, but the company has recently made changes to the UI, leaving the software difficult to navigate (read more about this in our complete QuickBooks Online review).

That said, Xero is only easy to use once you get to know the software. There is a steep learning curve and setup can be quite intensive. Xero offers plenty of support tools to get over this learning curve (which is more than QuickBooks Online can say). Because of QuickBooks Online’s recent downgrade and Xero’s steep learning curve, the programs are tied in this category.

Mobile Apps

Winner: QuickBooks Online

While there are a few complaints about QuickBooks Online’s mobile apps, most users find the apps incredibly helpful and easy to use. The apps receive 4.2/5 stars on iTunes and 4.3/5 stars on Google Play Store.

One of the biggest complaints about Xero is that their mobile apps are lacking key features and are ridden with bugs and crashes. It’s easy to see the winner in this section.

Customer Service & Support

Winner: Xero

Xero has the best customer service by far. In my experience, Xero representatives are well-informed and quick to respond to customers. The company also offers ample online resources, including a comprehensive help center, an in-software help button, a community forum, and lots of business and accounting guides.

While QuickBooks Online has been attempting to remedy their issues with poor customer support, the company still has a long way to go. Response times are slow and representatives are often uninformed. On the plus side, QuickBooks Online does provide a contact phone number (Xero does not — a fact quite a few users have complained about), but the phone support is not enough to beat out Xero.

Negative Reviews & Complaints

Winner: QuickBooks Online

This is one category QuickBooks Online should not want to win, and yet here they are. QuickBooks Online has received many user complaints regarding poor customer service, bugs, limited mobile apps, and even unauthorized charges.

Xero, on the other hand, has received very few customer complaints (although, this could be because it has half as many users as QuickBooks Online and hasn’t been around as long). The software is well-loved by most of its users and receives higher ratings across popular customer reviews sites.

Positive Reviews & Testimonials

Winner: Xero

While QuickBooks Online gets more positive reviews in terms of numbers, Xero receives a higher percentage of positive to negative reviews, which is why we’ve given it the victory in this section. Xero has earned 4.4/5 stars on GetApp and 4.3/5 stars on G2crowd (on this same site, QuickBooks Online only receives 3.1/5 stars).

Integrations

Winner: Xero

Xero has over 500 integrations, while QuickBooks Online comes in with over 400 integrations. Xero outnumbers QuickBooks Online here, but let’s be honest: once a company hits the couple hundred integrations mark, what more could you ask for? Both of these companies are the top accounting software companies when it comes to integrations, so you can’t go wrong with either choice.

Security

Winner: Xero

Ordinarily, this section results in a tie, but Xero has set itself apart in terms of security.

Both QuickBooks Online and Xero use data encryption, redundancy, and physical security measures at their prospective data centers. However, Xero boasts an unheard-of 99.97% uptime and has one of the strongest security reputations in the cloud accounting world. Of course, QuickBooks has one of the other strongest reputations in the accounting world, so, again, you really can’t go wrong with either option in this regard.

And The Overall Winner Is…

QuickBooks Online put up a very good fight, but in the end, Xero edges out the competition in a few key areas. Xero offers accessible features, better customer service, and more positive reviews. In this comparison, the people truly have spoken, and Xero is the winner.

Xero the Best Accounting Software For Larger Businesses. If you are looking for strong accounting capabilities, Xero won’t let you down. It’s important to note that there is a steep learning curve with this software, so if you’re not up for the challenge, QuickBooks Online might be a better choice.

Although QuickBooks Online didn’t win this one, it is particularly ideal for small businesses. If your company relies on invoicing, QuickBooks Online’s invoicing capabilities are far beyond anything Xero can offer. And if you need a project management feature, QuickBooks Online is also the way to go. Who knows?

If you want a full guide in how to set Xero up- go to our of our new chatbot 🤖, Claire